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Northampton Saints Going Green with New Solar Panels

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Published: Sunday, 19 May 2013 07:23

The roof of the Burrda Sport Stand at Franklin's Gardens has been home to a flurry of activity this week with the installation of 200 solar panels.

The panels have been installed as Northampton Saints makes the move towards a smaller carbon footprint and a greener future for Franklin's Gardens.

Once installation has been completed by Buckingham-based SolarTech, the 200 panels will, between them, generate 50kW of electricity for every hour of sunshine.

This is not the first 'green' initiative to be utilised by the Saints. The Franklin's Gardens lake, which was a major feature of the Weedon Road site back in the days when it was a Victorian pleasure gardens, provides David Powell and his groundstaff with their irrigation water for the club's pitches. And when the rain does fall, the drainage system is designed to feed water back into the lake.

Chief executive Allan Robson says that looking at renewable energy is important for a club like the Saints.

"We're fortunate to have our own stadium, rather than having to groundshare, so we can explore options that will benefit the club in the longer-term," he commented. "In an era when electricity prices are continuing to rise, looking into alternatives which generate renewable energy is something which makes a lot of sense.

"The Burrda Sport Stand was the perfect location, and the technicians from SolarTech tell us that they have rarely worked on a better site for solar panels. The stand is one of the highest buildings in the area, so it doesn't come under that much shade, and on clear days like we've had this week it has direct sunlight for the vast majority of the day.

"Of course we know that the weather will change, but these solar panels have been installed with a long-term view and we're very happy to be reducing our carbon footprint in the process."